1803 $10 Extra Star AU58 NGC. Breen-6845, BD-5, Taraszka-30,
High R.4. Although the BD-5 die marriage was known for decades,
nobody seemed to notice the extra star embedded in the reverse's
rightmost cloud until Harry W. Bass, Jr.'s 1966 discovery. Why the
die sinker placed the star within the cloud will never be known,
but such anomalies--even wildly misplaced dates and upside-down
digits--exist in many 18th and 19th century coinage series of the
United States. Perhaps the engraver wanted to test the punch in a
seemingly inconspicuous place, or maybe it was a secret mark like
the notched 13th star that was John Reich's secret signature. It is
this cataloger's speculation that an issue with the existing star
punch required the use of a new star punch and a test mark was made
in a hidden location. Since the tool used to create the errant star
was smaller than any punch used on eagles of that era, the die
sinker may have made the decision to use a larger punch for spacing
and layout purposes. Again, this is pure speculation. Why the Mint
changed star punches at all is a more intriguing question, but the
reason was likely a matter of a broken tool as opposed to a style
change. Such is the allure of early American numismatics.
The rarity of this variety has been debated for years. Determining
the true rarity of early gold varieties by the analysis of
certified population data is risky due to the fact that most dates
have a catchall category comprising different varieties, among
other reasons. For a better understanding of a variety's extant
population, we turn to the exhaustive research of specialists such
as Harry W. Bass, Jr. and John Dannreuther who, in their 2006
treatise on the subject, estimated that approximately 100 1803 BD-5
tens have survived. The other Large Reverse Stars variety, BD-6, is
even rarer, with as few of 10 extant pieces. Six different die
marriages were used to strike 1803-dated eagles. The first four in
the emission sequence are of the Small Reverse Stars type, and the
authors opine that they are twice as plentiful--as a group--as
their cousins with larger reverse stars.
This is a sharply defined example that shows even yellow-gold
color. The surfaces are minimally abraded, and in fact show no
singularly mentionable marks on either side. Significant portions
of mint luster can be seen around the devices. (PCGS# 88565)